Sporting Memories Chat
On Tuesday 22nd November 2022 Del Leslie and Ralph Robinson, accompanied by Club Chairman Paul Grout, took four of their bikes along to a gathering of the members of the Sporting Memories Group Marden.
Sporting Memories are a charity and social enterprise that uses the power of remembering and talking about sport – along with physical exercise – to tackle dementia, depression, and loneliness in older people.
They currently have over 100 in-person and digital clubs operating across England, Scotland, and Wales, and in the Southern Hemisphere across Australia and New Zealand.
The clubs are dedicated to bringing older people together with the aim of making a positive difference in their lives by providing them with a welcoming, supportive, and structured environment where they can develop emotional confidence to improve their lives for the better.
The four bikes were a 1969 Mercian Strada Speciale, a 1978 Peugeot PFN10, a 1996 Eddy Merckx O. S. Strada, and a 2018 Canyon Endurace.
There were about 15 members in the Sporting Memories group and the theme of the “chat” by Del and Ralph was to look at how bike innovation had progressed, and bike design changed throughout the past 50 years.
It was all very friendly and informal, with plenty of interaction and questions coming from the members of the Group. Many within the Group had been cyclists at some point during their life and really got involved in the one-to-one chats that took place standing amongst all the bikes once the main presentation had finished.
As a Club we were really pleased to be invited along to one of the Sporting Memories weekly gatherings and it is hoped that we might have another opportunity in the new year.
